KANSAS CITY, Mo. — One person is in critical but stable condition at the hospital, and another is expected to survive after getting shot near the University of Missouri-Kansas City. A suspect in the incident is still at large.
The shooting victims pulled into the Whole Foods parking lot at 301 E 51st Street.
Officials say moments earlier, they had been traveling on Oak Street when someone fired on them right by UMKC police headquarters on 50th Street.
The wild scene next to the Trolley Trail caused confusion for shoppers around dinner time.
Jason Shepard went live on the Citizen app.
"None of us knew what was going on, we were trying to go into Whole Foods and they had it closed down," Shepard said. "They weren't letting people out or in."
The incident prompting UMKC to send an alert.
The message read: "NEW INFORMATION: UMKC police found two gunshot victims in a car in lot 5st and Oak. Said pedestrian shot into vehicle. No description. Suspect at large."
"We have pre-arranged templates for emergency situations. We used that today really for the first time," John Martellaro, UMKC Director of Strategic Communications, said. "It was out in less than five minutes after the police department called me."
As police searched for the shooter, their massive presence made parents attending East High School's graduation on UMKC's campus look for alternate routes.
KCPS spokesperson Elle Moxley told KSHB 41 the graduation continued as planned.
According to Moxley, the district's security team was in communication with UMKC's police department as well as KCPD.
"Police have certainly stepped up patrols to keep an eye out," Martellaro said. "Unfortunately, we don't have a description of the shooter, so we're just sort of keeping an eye on everything."
Kansas City, Missouri, Police Department spokesperson Leslie Foreman later clarified that there wasn't an active shooter situation, and the shooting is not believed to be connected to UMKC.
Foreman said the individuals involved likely knew each other, and it wasn't a random act.
Word of a shooting in this busy area of KCMO got mixed reaction.
"We live by Troost, so we're used to shootings gunshots a lot," Kellan Nelsen, who was grabbing a slice of pizza in the area said. "I don't know, it's not very crazy to me, but crazy that it happened on the school, school property."
Whole Foods closed earlier than expected for the evening following the incident.
At last checked, KCPD are still searching for the suspect and haven't released a description on who they're looking for.
